Chinese Style Mock Duck With Noodles Recipes

CHINESE VEGETARIAN DUCK (素鸭)

Steps:

• Rinse the shiitake mushrooms clean, and soak them in 2 cups of hot water for 2-3 hours, until they are completely rehydrated. Reserve the water they soaked in.
• Julienne the bamboo shoots, carrots, and ginger, and set aside. Once the shitake mushrooms are done soaking, squeeze out any excess water, remove the tough stems, and thinly slice them.
• With your wok over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons oil. Add the ginger, and cook for 20 seconds. Add the carrots, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and bamboo shoots, turn up the heat, and and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.
• Stir in the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, and vegetarian oyster sauce. Continue cooking until all the liquid has reduced. Remove from the wok, and let the filling cool.
• Prepare your steamer with enough water for 12 minutes of steaming over high heat, and bring to a boil.
• Lay out one of your sheets of bean curd on a clean work surface. Take your mixture of vegetarian oyster sauce and water, and brush lightly onto one of the sheets. Stack another sheet on top and brush that one too with the oyster sauce mixture.
• Add half of the filling to the lower part of the bean curd circle (about 5 inches/13 cm) from the edge closest to you), arranging it in a roughly 7x3 inch horizontal rectangle. Fold the sheet over the filling tightly. Fold the sides over the middle, and continue rolling tightly until you've formed a rectangular roll. Repeat with another 2 sheets of bean curd skin and the other half of the filling.
• With the opening side down, lay them side by side on a heat proof dish. When the water in your steamer has come to a boil, steam the rolls for 12 minutes over high heat.
• Meanwhile, mix the braising sauce. Combine 1 ¼ cups of the mushroom soaking water, 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce. Mix until sugar is completely dissolved, and set aside.
• Remove the rolls from the steamer. Heat a clean wok/pan over medium heat. When the wok is heated, add the oil, and swirl it around the perimeter of the wok to coat it evenly.
• Add the rolls, and brown each side, about 1-2 minutes per side. Handle gently when flipping.
• Once both sides are browned, add the sauce mixture. Braise over medium heat, cooking for 2 minutes covered, and then 2-3 minutes uncovered. Flip the rolls, and do the same on the other side. Try not to move them too much. Just slide them around to prevent them from breaking or fall apart.
• Once the sauce has reduced (it should coat the rolls, but they shouldn't be sitting in a pool of sauce), carefully transfer the rolls to a plate, and cool completely.
• Once cooled, slice into ¾ inch thick slices, and garnish with chopped scallions. Serve at room temperature.

CHINESE 5-SPICE DUCK WITH NOODLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/170C Fan/Gas 4.
• With a sharp knife, score a cross-hatch pattern into the duck fat. Rub the five-spice into the fat and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat a heavy-based ovenproof frying pan. Place the duck breasts skin-side down and season the other side with five-spice, salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes or until most of the fat has run out into the pan and the skin is golden-brown. Turn the duck over and cook for 1 minute. Then cook in the oven for 3-5 minutes then allow to rest.
• Warm the honey and soy sauce together in a small pan. Bring to for 1 minute. Allow to cool.
• Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the noodles for 3-4 minutes or according to packet instructions. Drain and toss with half the spring onions, the lime juice and some sesame oil. Place between 2 bowls.
• Slice the duck into strips and place on top of noodles. Drizzle over the sauce and top with the remaining spring onions, sesame oil and sesame seeds.

HOISIN DUCK & NOODLES

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 160^C.
• Score the skin on the duck breasts around 1cm apart diagonally. In a large deep pan, at a medium-high heat lay the duck skin-side down (no oil required) and fry for 1-2 mins until skin is golden & bubbling. Turn the duck over to flesh side and sear for 1 min.
• Once the duck flesh has browned a little, take the pan off the heat and put in the oven (uncovered) for 10-12 mins, with the duck remaining skin-side up. Once cooked, remove pan from oven and rest duck while you cook the vegetables & noodles.
• Heat the olive oil in a Wok and add the courgette. Season with salt & coarse black pepper and cook until starting to soften.
• Add the mushrooms, a few generous shakes of Chinese five spice and a splash of soy sauce. Stir to coat and cook through for a couple of minutes.
• In a small saucepan, add the noodles and pour over boiling water to cover. Put on a medium/low heat and simmer until cooked through - this should take around 5 mins depending on pack instructions.
• Once noodles are cooked, drain off and lift a bunch out at a time to cut 4-5 inch strands into the wok with the vegetables. Add more Chinese five spice and soy sauce and mix well.
• Once the duck has rested, pour x2 tbsp of hoisin sauce over each duck breast, and turn on a low heat on the hob. Allow duck oils to heat back up, and rotate the breasts around the pan until all are covered in the sauce.
• Distribute noodles & veg onto pre-warmed plates (or large bowls) and drizzle with remaining hoisin sauce to your liking. Place the duck breasts on top. Add spring onions as a garnish on top. Also sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds if you wish!

MOCK DUCK (OR BEEF ROULAND)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pound out steaks between plastic wrap. On a flat surface arrange 5 pieces of 24-inch cooking string parallel to each other about 2 inches apart. On top of the string, arrange the steak into a 12x16-inch sheet, or as well as you can create a rectangle without holes, try to overlap the steaks by no more than 1 inch.
• Cover sheet of steak with about 1/22-inch of stuffing.
• Roll steak as for a jelly roll, and tie with the string which is already under the roll, starting with the ends (so the stuffing does not squish out one end). Finally truss the roll lengthwise. At this time it should look like a steak cocoon.
• Brown the steak in oil in a frying pan.
• Transfer the roll to an oven-proof dish with a lid, pour consommé or tomato soup around the steak and cover. Baste during baking. Add additional water as needed to keep about an inch of liquid in the bottom. Bake 2 hours or until internal temp is 160°F.
• Serve with mashed potatoes and veggies.

CHINESE-STYLE MOCK DUCK WITH NOODLES

Steps:

• Prepare noodles according to package directions. (Note: My udon had fairly elaborate directions involving: three boilings, the addition of cold water, a 5 minute "rest" after boiling, and a final rinse in cold water. Though this seemed overly fussy, I followed the directions exactly and was rewarded with the best home-cooked dry noodles/pasta I've ever eaten. So follow the directions for best results :-).).
• Rinse "duck" thoroughly. Dry with a paper towel and slice into bite-size pieces.
• Heat oil and black beans (smashed slightly) in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add the eggplant, zucchini, and "duck". Stir-fry for about three minutes, until vegetables start to soften.
• Add ginger, garlic, scallions, and chili flakes. Continue to stir-fry until the vegetables are cooked.
• Meanwhile combine sauce ingredients in a 2 c measuring cup, adding enough water to make a total of 3/4 cups sauce. Stir very well to incorporate cornstarch.
• Add sauce mixture to stir fry, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 3 minutes until it bubbles and thickens.
• Add cooked noodles to the pan and stir to combine. Serve hot.